Jack Hoogendyk, 6th District Republican candidate for Congress, talks with editorial staff at the Kalamazoo Gazette/MLive Media Group in Kalamazoo.

KALAMAZOO, MI — An attorney for U.S. Rep. Fred Upton has said that Republican challenger Jack Hoogendyk has "engaged in a prolonged pattern of violations of federal law" and should be investigated by the IRS because he did not include required language in fundraising literature.

Upton's lawyer, Charles Spies of Clark Hill PLC in Washington, D.C., sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service on July 17 outlining what it alleges to be "numerous violations" of Section 6113 of the Internal Revenue Code.

According to the code, if a tax-exempt organization, such as a political campaign, raises more than $100,000 in a year it needs to include language on all fundraising material that donations are not tax deductible.

Upton's campaign website, for example, includes this language: "Contributions to Upton For All of US are not deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes."

Spies wrote that none of the e-mail or letters sent from Hoogendyk's campaign included such wording. Hoogendyk's campaign reached the $100,000 threshold during the second quarter, raising $120,634. Spies said that Hoogendyk should return the surplus of money over $20,000.

Hoogendyk's attorney, Chris Micklatcher of Golden Avenue Law Offices in Battle Creek, wrote in a response on July 18 that "there is no concerted effort (by the Hoogendyk campaign) to break the disclosure laws."

Micklatcher wrote in the letter that after the campaign became aware of the violation, language was added to the website
and "letters are being sent to all contributors reinforcing the rules against deducting political contributions."

Related documents (provided by the Upton campaign)

Hoogendyk said Tuesday afternoon that "what matters is that we are in compliance ... all of our donors are aware of the disclosure information — that's what's important."

Micklatcher wrote that Hoogendyk should have included the statement in materials, but Spies' suggestion that there was a prolonged violation of law "is absurd" because Hoogendyk's campaign finance reports were submitted a week prior.

"What is bothersome is that this charge comes at a time where it will cause immediate economic harm and costs," Micklatcher wrote in another letter to the IRS.

The complaint comes weeks before the Aug. 7 primary, in which the two
candidates are vying for the Republican nomination to run against
Democrat Mike O'Brien in November.

"Frustrating Mr. Hoogendyk is the heavy handedness of Mr. Upton in attempting to use the full might of the Internal Revenue Service to shut down his campaign," Micklatcher wrote. "This is all being called for before the August primary date, thus assuring the Hoogendyk campaign will be shut down immediately. "

Spies, however, wrote that Hoogendyk should have known about the law because he has run for two federal offices, for Congress in 2010 and U.S. Senator in 2008.

"It would strain credibility for him to assert that he and his campaign were not aware of the standard IRS disclosure statement," Spies wrote.

It is not known if the IRS has launched an investigation into the Hoogendyk campaign. A spokeswoman for the agency said it does not comment on individual cases or investigations.

"Because Mr. Upton's campaign launched this controversy, we thought it was important for us to contact the IRS," Hoogendyk said. "We have not heard back."

Fritz Klug is a government reporter for MLive/Kalamazoo. He is covering the 6th Congressional race. If you have questions about the race or get any campaign mailings or robocalls, let him know: fklug@mlive.com or 269-370-0584. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+